Road strip



April 17, 1928. 1,666,613

v L. G. WOODS ROAD STRIP Filed Sept. 7. 1927 INVENTOR lbw-H. i. M00415,

Patented Apr. 17, 1928.

LEONARD G. WOODS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

ROAD STRIP.

Application filed September My invention is found in an end-to-end union for elongate rails and bars of all sorts, such as to prevent relative displace' ment in transverse direction. It finds specific application in rails intended to carry and sustain the weight of moving bodies, 7

and I have practiced it in the laying of the parting strip which is employed in the building of concrete roads. Such a strip is formed of sheet steel, five or six inches wide, according to the thickness specified for the body of the concrete road. The strip ordinarily extends down the middle of the road. It is set upon the sub-grade, before the concrete is spread, and is staked to place, and the concrete is spread on either side against it. Its upper edge should extend in substantially uniform and unbroken continuity, that certain finishing tools may move freely and uniformly upon it as a guide. Of necessity the strip is formed in lengths or sections which are built to place, and the desideratum is a union which shall be rigid, with no transverse movement between the united sections, and a union which shall afford a continuous and uniform edge from section to section.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a portion of a parting strip for concrete roads, staked to place; the figure shows the ends of two sections connected in a union of my invention. Fig. 2 is a view in plan from above of the two section ends spaced apart and-of the key in which my invention centers in position between. Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of the same association of parts, the upper key being shown both in elevation (broken away) and in cross-section.

The parting strip 1 here chosen for purposcsof illustration is of a now familiar shape, and includes a V-shaped channel with wide marginal flanges, set with the flanges extending in vertical plane. The strip is staked to position on the sub-grade by stakes 2 which pass through holes formed for them in the side webs of the V-shaped channel. The sectionsof which the strip is made up are provided in their upper "and lower marginal flanges with longitudinally 7, 1927. Serial No. 217,975.

extending slots 3, so placed that when two sections are brought to end-to-end alignment, the slots come to registry. Keys 4 are provided to enter the aligned slots. These keys may be formed of rolled sheet steel, essentially such material as that which constitutes the strips themselves. And the slots 3 are accordingly such in width as to receive these keys with sufficient snugness of fit. The keys themselves are of channeled form, having opposite wings 5, 5, and a central portion 6 which fits within the aligning slots 3, while the wings 5, shown in the drawings as depending from the por- 'tion 6, confine between them marginal portions of the two aligned strips.

The assembly will be .manifest on considering the drawings. The keys extend in planes transverse to the vertical plane in which the marginal flanges of the strip sections extend; the sections of the strip come to end-to-end alignment with keys between;

and the keys fill the aligned slots while theiropposite wings hold the aligned strips against lateral displacement. If desired, after the parts are fitted together the blow of a hammer against one of the wings 5 while the other is braced, will cause the wings to pinch tightly against the strips.

It will be evident that in the laying of the parting strip each succeeding section may be pinned to place, and the next section may then be keyed to accurate alignment and continuity with it and then in its turn be pinned to place. A parting strip embodying the present invention is of simplest form, of minimum cost. easily and accurately assembled. No deflection nor offsetting of the web of material is required for jointing. The edge is continuous and uniform throughout the succession of sections. And the union is strong to resist all strains and no displacement can occur of the united section ends in any direction transverse to the line in which the strip extends.

I claim as my invention:

1. A structural union of two bars brought to juxtaposition end to end, such union inveluding aligned slots in the ends of the bars and a channeled key extending within the slots in the bars and having cooperating within the slots and having cooperating wings extending over opposite faces of the rail sections.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

LEONARD G. woons. 

